What Are You Looking At?

My blog. And what are you looking at?

Friday, October 22, 2010

The Twitter Experiment

I have been tweeting for a few months now. I had a specific plan when I started tweeting, but I now see the problem. See, I was going to post quotes from public transportation ads. Why? I dunno. It reads well. Sort of fun. The problem? They don't change the ads on the el or bus very often. See, I have posted essentially all of the ads I see.

Who would have thought that would happen? I mean, it seems like there a millions of ads on public transportation, doesn't it? It turns out that there are really like 150 ads. Grand total. Done.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Things I Think I Think

I was just watching the Yankees and Rangers. In the top of the 9th inning the Rangers played death by a thousand cuts. I think they hit one ball hard, but scored four runs. A few things. First, is there some reason that ARod did not dive for Nelson Cruz's single in the ninth? Because keeping that ball in the infield would have kept the runner on second. Why didn't Jeter try to knock Molina's ball down? I think it would have been nice to see some Yankees get their uniforms dirty.

I am watching two new Paranormal States from Sunday. The thing they understand on this show is that the viewing audience does not want skeptical investigation that neither proves nor disproves the paranormal. That is Ghost Hunters. A fine show, but at some point you want to see something happen. Paranormal State starts with mediums and psychics. These are people with a vested interest in . . . paranormality. See, we're off on the right track already. The "sensitive" just said she thinks we might be dealing with a goblin. A goblin? That's awesome. I think the entertainment value of actually having ghosts on ghost shows is tremendous.

Finally, I think that it would be very funny that one of the candidates for governor in Illinois just said that as governor he would veto a bill that HE SPONSORED if the alternative were any better. The bill in question allowed veterinarians to euthanize multiple animals simultaneously. I HATE being stuck killing cats one at a time! To bad Pat Quinn is an assclown as well.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Deutschland 2010

October 3 was German (re)unification day. It has been 20 years since the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany went from being two countries that never existed before World War II to being one "reunified" country that never existed before 1990. I am not sure what the state of mind in Germany was for this anniversary (they don't tend to exhibit 4th of July-style bombast), but it is clear that changes are afoot in Germany.

First, the Christian Science Monitor reports that Germany finally paid off that Visa it got in college. No wait, Germany actually made the final payment on the reparations from World War I. No need to occupy the Ruhr, France and Belgium, nothing to see here. This actually does at least symbolically close an era (as if the intervening events of Hitler, the Holocaust, the Cold War, and Wiedervereinigung did not). The end of reparations is another step in Germany being a fully "normal" country again.

While almost certainly unrelated to the end of reparations, the New York Times reported on the resurgence of German identity. One thing striking to a Midwesterner in Germany was that there were no German flags in public. In the Midwest they are everywhere. Every gas station, government facility (including rest stops on the highway), and plenty of houses have American flags in front of them. It was really striking. Now it appears that Germans are starting to express pride in aspects of their history and culture. Frankly, this strikes me as appropriate. Those Europeans who are "concerned" that Germany is not "committed" to Europe are mostly countries that provide less material benefit to their European partners. In other words, countries with an interest in guilty Germans paying the bills. As long as German national pride does not spill over into Antisemitism or other negative behavior, there is nothing wrong with celebrating the national team's World Cup wins, or using German on train signs instead of English. Everyone else does it too.

The New "Wayne"

In the Chicagoland area in looks as if we there is a different trend. On October 4, 2010 the Chicago Tribune reported that 53 year old Ruben Rodriguez was arrested for weapon and drug violations after police were called because Mr. Rodriguez allegedly threatened his wife with an air rifle. Mr. Rodriguez lives in Hegewisch. Then on October 5, 2010 the Northwest Herald reported that 42 year old Ruben Rodriguez was arrested for "driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a suspended license, four counts of endangering the life of a child, improper lane use, speeding, and using an electronic communication device while driving." This Mr. Rodriguez lives in Lake in the Hills.